Chapter Text
Lucifer loved the bookstore. It was one of his favorite places in the world. He liked it more than his own house. Who could blame him, honestly?
Unlike his cold, empty house, the bookstore was warm. It was cozy, comfortable, he never had to feel lonely because he was surrounded by books and people. Not that he ever spoke to people.
Lucifer was anxious. He was socially awkward and struggled with talking to strangers. He couldn't do eye contact or make small talk. He preferred to keep quiet and have the other employees do the talking part.
Lucifer’s job was to restock and organize the shelves. He liked having that job. He was great at alphabetizing! He got to organize the books by letter and series and author and genre! How fun was that?
He loved his job. He looked forward to arriving every morning and dreaded the thought of returning home every evening. He would live at the store if he was able to.
He had recognized every regular customer.
There was a group of friends, Vincent, Valentino, and Velvette. Lucifer had mentally nicknamed them ‘The Vees.’
Vincent and Lucifer had exactly two similarities: they both wore glasses and had heterochromaia.
But even then they were still different even in their similarities.
Vincent’s eyes were blue and green. They looked quite pretty in Lucifer's opinion. They were framed by black, rectangular glasses.
Lucifer’s eyes were blue and brown. He wore horn rimmed glasses with golden frames.
They were also total opposites in personality.
While Vincent was loud, confident, and obnoxious, Lucifer was quiet, anxious, and reserved.
Vincent usually took to the non-fiction section. He seemed to have a special interest in sharks, Lucifer noticed. He also liked to read about the history of film and TV. He tended to rent out movies as well.
His friend Valentino liked to buy… interesting magazines and adult films. He poked fun at Vincent for buying books about sharks only for Vincent to announce his adult purchases for the entire store to hear.
Lucifer found it a little funny.
Velvette usually bought fashion magazines and books about fashion or costume design. She seemed constantly annoyed by the boys making fun of each other, but she stuck around, so she must love them.
Another regular was a woman named Carmilla. She often visited with her daughters, Odette and Clara. Clara has darker skin and puffy hair. She was older, twelve. Odette was more pale with straight, blonde hair. She was eleven.
Carmilla and her daughters had a shared enjoyment in films about ballet. Odette liked science books, Clara really liked reading about the history of weapons and war.
A girl who looked like she attended raves regularly, named Zeezi, often visited with a man named Maestro, who dressed like he was someone important. They both liked the music section.
Zeezi would buy vinyls and CDs for a variety of bands, but especially ones that you’d expect at a rave. Maestro bought strictly classical vinyls.
Lucifer wondered how they were friends with such contrasting tastes.
There were many other regular customers that Lucifer recognized, but there was always one in particular that caught his eyes.
He was a newer regular. The first time Lucifer saw him was only a few months ago.
His name was Alastor.
He was handsome. He had brown skin, dark, curly hair, and deep brown eyes. He wore oval glasses and was always dressed quite handsomely. He made Lucifer feel self conscious.
Lucifer had blonde hair that was always a little messy no matter how much he tried to make it look neat. He wore earth-toned sweater-vests over a white long sleeve button up and neckties. He looked like both a dork and a nerd.
Thankfully Alastor never tried to talk to him. He didn't have to worry about making a fool of himself by stuttering and failing to be useful to a guy who was unfairly attractive. He'd be lying if he said he didn't have any interest in the man.
Despite Lucifer’s anxiety, it all seemed to melt away during 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
This was storytime.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Lucifer went to the children’s section with a picture book that a child had requested and sat down in the reading corner.
The kids would excitedly sit down on the floor in front of him and shush each other with giggles.
Lucifer adored the kids. He loved reading to them, and they seemed to love it too. He didn't feel anxious reading to them. He didn't have a reason to. The kids didn't care if he was awkward or stuttered or messed up. They just wanted a good story. It made Lucifer feel like he had a purpose again. He hasn't been able to read to kids after his own daughter grew out of it. Getting this job was one of the best things to happen to him.
The bookstore truly was his safe space. His happy place. He didn't know what he would do without this little shop.
“Hey dad,” Charlie greeted.
Lucifer turned to her. “Hi, Charlie!” He greeted his daughter with a smile.
“What book are you gonna read for the kids tomorrow?” she asked curiously.
“A kid asked me to read a Clifford book this time. His mom said he's a big fan of Clifford, and the kid was so shy about asking that it was hard to say no!” He chuckled.
“Aww, I remember you reading me those books when I was little.” Charlie smiled fondly. “Are you doing alright? Not stressed at all? No back pain from organizing shelves?”
Lucifer couldn't help a small laugh. Charlie was a sweetheart, always worrying about her friends and family. “I'm fine, Charlie. I told you, I love this job. If I wasn't happy with it, I’d have told you by now.”
Charlie sighed and her smile softened. “Alright. Just know you can tell me if you need a few days off.”
Lucifer gave her two thumbs up. He turned and grabbed a box of books with a grunt. He turned back around and saw Alastor standing at the checkout desk, talking to Vaggi, Charlie’s girlfriend. He dropped his box, startled by the sudden appearance of the man he had a silent crush on.
Charlie yelled and jumped back. “Oh! Are you alright, Dad?”
Lucifer looked at the box.
The box of books had made a loud noise catching the attention of several customers, including the handsome stranger at the front.
Lucifer blushed, heavily embarrassed. He now had several pairs of eyes on him. He put his eyes on the ground and got down to pick up the books that fell out of the box.
Charlie assisted him. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“N-Nothing.” Lucifer mumbled. He had just made a complete fool of himself. He needed to move to another country and never show his face in public again.
His daughter seemed worried, but didn't push any further.
The two finished picking up the books and Charlie helped him pick up the box.
“I'll just… go put these on their shelves…” Lucifer mumbled, walking away with his eyes down. He double checked what section these books went to.
Shit.
Classics. Alastor frequented the classics section.
Great! Just Lucifer's luck! He makes himself look like a clutz and the customer he has a secret crush on might see him organizing the shelves he liked to browse while pretending he didn't just drop a box full of heavy books and bring attention to himself because he was stupid.
Great going, Lucifer. He groaned and made his way to the classics section. “Fuck my life.” He whispered.
He set the box down and pulled a stack of books out, placing them in the correct spots. He was starting to get into the rhythm of organizing books when a familiar man appeared beside him.